NEWS FROM THE CELTIC LEAGUE The Celtic League has written to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child about a £2 million payment by the British Ministry of Defence to victims of physical and sexual abuse in the cadet forces. The text of the letter is set out below: ?The Secretariat Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) Human Rights Treaties Division (HRTD) Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson - 52, rue des Pâquis CH-1201 Geneva (Switzerland) 21st January 2015 Dear Sir, We wrote to the Committee on 8th December (copy enclosed) expressing concerns about the operation by the United Kingdom government of child cadet forces which we asserted are directly aligned to the military. We expressed concern about child safety and welfare. In parallel with the correspondence to you we wrote (again) to Children?s Commissioners in various countries of the UK (and the Isle of Man) reiterating concerns about safety and child welfare. The Committee should be aware that in late December 2014 the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence admitted (following a freedom of information) request that it had paid out over £2 million pounds over a three year period to settle allegations of physical and sexual abuse in the cadet forces. The alacrity with which the MOD settled the matter indicates that the Cadet Forces of the United Kingdom are quite clearly viewed as an extension of the armed forces. If this were not the case then the UK would have settled the issue via Social agencies of government. I would remind the Committee that the Cadet Forces recruit children as young as 12 years and as it has now been clearly demonstrated that the organisation is directly funded as part of the UK Defence Forces the CRC should have no hesitation in confronting the United Kingdom about the issue. I attach links below relating to the settlement of the abuse cases and related child welfare matters: (voir le site) (voir le site) (voir le site) Yours sincerely, J B Moffatt (Mr) Director of Information Celtic League Link to earlier correspondence on celticleague.net archive here: (voir le site) (voir le site) J B Moffatt (Mr) Director of Information 21/01/15 (Please note that replies to correspondence received by the League and posted on CL News are usually scanned hard copies. Obviously every effort is made to ensure the scanning process is accurate but sometimes errors do occur.) ISSUED BY THE CELTIC LEAGUE INFORMATION SERVICE. The Celtic League has branches in the six Celtic Countries. It works to promote cooperation between these countries and campaigns on a broad range of political, cultural and environmental matters. It highlights human rights abuse, monitors all military activity and focuses on socio-economic issues Internet site at: (voir le site) (voir le site)